Various fuel cell systems including cell stack assemblies have been proposed as next generation energy sources. Such a cell stack assembly includes fuel cells electrically connected in series and accommodated in a container.
The fuel cells in the cell stack assembly have lower end portions bonded to a manifold with a bonding agent, such as glass, and fuel gas that has not been consumed in power generation is combusted in upper end portions of the fuel cells.
Unfortunately, such a cell stack assembly undergoes cracking in upper end portions and lower end portions of the fuel cells due to concentration of stress on the upper and lower end portions, which may impair the long-term reliability. Thus, a proposed fuel cell is provided with a reinforcement layer to enhance the robustness of the upper and lower end portions (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
PL 1: WO2014/208730